-- What We Think of Love --

by John Herlihy

We think of love as ecstasy,

We think of love as bliss.

We little comprehend its mystery,

Only to find it something we miss.

We know so little of love,

We know so little of its intricacy.

How do wings uplift the dove,

Only to find it a thing of beauty.

We unleash love’s power of intimacy,

A fathomless well, remote and pure.

To weave oneself into a web of delicacy,

Into a secret only lovers can endure.

We think of love as something for others,

Something we desperately want to find.

Not just the love of sisters and brothers,

Hidden within a knot we hope to unwind.

We think of that vital presence blessed,

Near even when the loved one so far.

The joy of missing, joy of being missed,

Each illuminated by their private star.

While the loved one has foibles that annoy,

Lovable idiosyncrasies we tend to overlook.

Lovers never try to describe the limitless joy,

All the temptations that serve as bait on a hook.

Sometimes we think of the risk entailed,

A giving of one’s heart to another’s heart.

Only to see the heart finally assailed,

To end up finally as pieces broken apart.

We have no cause to think the lover gone,

An emotion to take leave – never.

Its melody runs through us as a song,

A sentiment that will echo in life forever.

We think of the love that was,

We think of the love that may have been.

No questions why, no answers because,

Only the facts, the where and the when.

We think of, search for, and fall in love,

The wonder, the loss, as it comes and goes.

Fall in love, fall out of love, a push and a shove,

When it will happen again, no one truly knows.

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Copyright © John Herlihy

Tuesday 10 October 2023